Olfactory processing: detection of rapid changes

Changes in the olfactory environment have a rather poor chance of being detected. Aim of the present study was to determine, whether the same (cued) or different (uncued) odors can generally be detected at short inter stimulus intervals (ISI) below 2.5 s. Furthermore we investigated, whether inhibition of return, an attentional phenomenon facilitating the detection of new stimuli at longer ISI, is present in the domain of olfaction. Thirteen normosmic people (3 men, 10 women; age range 19-27 years; mean age 23 years) participated. Stimulation was performed using air-dilution olfactometry with 2 odors: phenylethylalcohol and hydrogen disulfide. Reaction time to target stimuli was assessed in cued and uncued conditions at ISIs of 1, 1.5, 2, and 2.5 s. There was a significant main effect of ISI, indicating that odors presented only 1 s apart are missed frequently. Uncued presentation facilitated detection at short ISIs, implying that changes of the olfactory environment are detected better than presentation of the same odor again. Effects in relation to "olfactory inhibition of return," on the other hand, are not supported by our results. This suggests that attention works different for the olfactory system compared with the visual and auditory systems.